18 days, 2,000 miles and 6 countries
Volkswagen Camper and Commercial|Issue 150
We’re sitting in a traditional German beer garden. The backdrop is Neuschwanstein Castle, the very castle that inspired Walt Disney’s magical creation.
Ellen Manning
18 days, 2,000 miles and 6 countries

A Bavarian Oompah band is playing in the background to mark someone’s wedding, we’re drinking beers called ‘buckets’ and have just ordered a traditional pork knuckle. “I bet you never did anything like this before,” says our new German friend, a guitarist about to play at the wedding reception, as we toast our one-off experience.

He’s right. When else would you find yourself in a small town in the middle of nowhere, making like a local, whilst on holiday? That’s the joy of campervanning and why a European road trip is now our holiday of choice. That and the fact that you can (currently) take your pets with you thanks to European Pet Passports and the pet-friendly Eurotunnel. In previous years we’ve covered France, Italy, bits of Spain and Andorra. This year we decided to head through Belgium to Germany and the holiday haven of the Bodensee using a combination of aires, stellplatz, wild camping and traditional campsites.

Two adults, two Rottweilers and a VW Bus. What could possibly go wrong? We started by missing our scheduled tunnel crossing thanks to English roadworks, but were easily put on the next one and less than an hour after arriving at Calais reached our first stop of Veurne. This is a stereotypically Belgian town complete with a square, lined with restaurants and bars. Apparently a September trip meant we were too late in the season for moules at one restaurant, but a steak substitute was more than adequate. Our route to Germany took us through another Belgian town of Bouillon, home to a secluded aire with views of the imposing fortress high on the hill above the river. This was a perfect example of the unique accommodation four wheels and a bed can provide you with, absolutely free of charge.

Denne historien er fra Issue 150-utgaven av Volkswagen Camper and Commercial.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra Issue 150-utgaven av Volkswagen Camper and Commercial.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA VOLKSWAGEN CAMPER AND COMMERCIALSe alt
Lance & Lisa Beaver tell the story of their...‘Old School' Westfalia Bay
Volkswagen Camper and Commercial

Lance & Lisa Beaver tell the story of their...‘Old School' Westfalia Bay

The history of our bus is varied. I heard that it used to belong to a soccer player who lived in it for a while, and a tale of a cross country trip that was taken in it. Since we’ve owned it, we have been to numerous car shows with our car club Kahiko Kula and enjoy that immensely, but taking it camping is our joy.

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4 mins  |
Issue 156
Messing About in Boats
Volkswagen Camper and Commercial

Messing About in Boats

“Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing — absolutely nothing — half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.”

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4 mins  |
Issue 156
Volkswagen Camper and Commercial

Hector A Cautionary Tale.

We’d wanted a splitscreen bus for years. And first got the bug, after hiring one for a holiday in Cornwall in 2009.

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4 mins  |
Issue 156
Volkswagen Camper and Commercial

Ruby Red

Since the tender age of just 3, Joanne Dix has been into splitscreen Volkswagens.

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4 mins  |
Issue 156
Playing with Fire
Volkswagen Camper and Commercial

Playing with Fire

‘There we were, all just sitting around the campfire...’

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3 mins  |
Issue 156
Four lads take on Le Mans
Volkswagen Camper and Commercial

Four lads take on Le Mans

We’d had the Le Mans 24 hour race on our bucket list for a long, long time...

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4 mins  |
Issue 156
Happy 70th Birthday, Miss Sofie!
Volkswagen Camper and Commercial

Happy 70th Birthday, Miss Sofie!

This T1 Bulli from 1950 is the world’s oldest street-legal VW bus and is kept in VWCV’s Classic Vehicles collection in Hannover.

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2 mins  |
Issue 156
Sitting on the Dock of the Bay…
Volkswagen Camper and Commercial

Sitting on the Dock of the Bay…

Lockdown Projects.

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2 mins  |
Issue 156
California Dreamin'
Volkswagen Camper and Commercial

California Dreamin'

The beginning of our second week and we were being treated to a day out...

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4 mins  |
Issue 156
Brochure Line - A 2.6 litre T3!
Volkswagen Camper and Commercial

Brochure Line - A 2.6 litre T3!

Taking a peep at a highly desirable VW Bus few of us will ever see in its ‘Exclusiv’ finery

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2 mins  |
Issue 156